The Tour of A Lifetime
by No Hugs Peach
Summary: Story I meant to post in December. Each capter involves one Nartuo character and one OC. My friend Maiko finally got me to post it. There is no yaoi or yuri cause I don't know how and don't like ot write it.


**Rayne Meet Sand**

'_He could see his goal; his prize was within his reach. If only it were possible to reach out and take it, but no. He restrained himself severely, taking would not work best, and it would only hinder what they had set out to do in the beginning. It would only ruin everything if he snatched the slightly beaten case at her feet, would probably get the police after him as well. To get the information he would have to be careful. He could sense the way she shifted slightly, every time he moved a centimeter. He held the smirk in; it was nice to see she recognized him after all their time apart._' Rayne paused in her writing, rereading it carefully. "What'cha reading?" A voice rang next to her. She turned quickly in surprise, as he hadn't made a sound. "Just something I wrote." She said, flustered, looking at the person next to her, he seemed…happy. His blond hair was ruffled and a few strands brushed his blue eyes. To put it simply he was, "Blaze, leave me alone." Not that he listened to a word she said. "Can I read it?"

"Why should I let you read my story?"

"Because I'm your younger brother." Rayne rolled her eyes. "Emphasis on 'younger'. I'll let you read the one you keep pestering me about, later. Right now I should actually be checking my bag." Rayne pulled herself off her bed, then went over, as usual, the mental checklist that covered everything she would need in school the next day. "Rayne, please?" Blaze asked again, pulling on a few strands of her hair, a few shades lighter than his own. "Blaze L. Ford, either get out or get hurt." Rayne snapped, shoving him out.

"Ray! Phone!" Her mom called up the stairs. "Got it!" She called back once the phone had been taken from its cradle, the caller's ear protected by her thumb. "Hello?" She answered. "Hey Ray! You'll never guess what I remembered!" Isabella, one of her closest, but still newest, friends said excitedly. "What?" Ray asked, begging inside to know. "There's going to be hotdogs for lunch tomorrow." She said, her voice losing all traces of excitement. "Hotdogs? You called me at eight, on a Thursday night, to tell me we're having hotdogs for lunch tomorrow?" Ray asked, dubiously. Muffled laughter was heard in the background, as well as in Ray's ear at the answer. "Also, we won't be having any." Isabella continued. "Okay, how does the 'we' include me? I'm in late lunch." Rayne asked, still confused. "Remember? We signed up to give a bunch of new students a tour of the school. They're going to be shadowing us in classes and we give them an informal tour during lunch." Isabella said; her voice being echoed by Sarabella's at the same time. "Damn, that's tomorrow? I thought for sure it was Monday!" Ray said worriedly as she dropped things into her bag. "Oh yeah, you have to wear The Uniform tomorrow. Ha, have fun. From what I hear, a majority of the group is guys." Isabella said as Sarabella laughed. "Whatever, when do we meet them ad why can't the tour include the lunch line?"

"We meet them during first hour and it can, but it'll take time out from the rest of the school." Sarabella explained. "We could miss Economics, and then we'd just eat during fifth hour and give the tour during sixth." Tsukii's voice said, shocking Rayne into dropping her backpack on her foot. She bit back the loud string of curses on her tongue as her friends, and it turned out to be only Tsukii, Isabella, Sarabella and Candee, debated over Tsukii's idea. "Ray, are you even there?" Candee asked after she hadn't spoken in a minute. "Dropped my backpack, on my foot."

"Silly Rayne, your Mutant Cheerleader Powers should've protected you!" Candee scolded. Rayne could even picture her smile and tone; Candee would be completely serious in her scolding. "Yeah, whatever you say Candee. Anyway, I agree with Tsukii's idea."

"You didn't finish your Econ homework, did you?" Sarabella asked. "No I did not. Besides, I never said I was against an earlier lunch."

"Okay, so that's what we'll do; who wants to tell the others?" Sarabella asked. "Um, we could tell them when we see them." Isabella suggested. "Good idea. I'll see y'all tomorrow since I got to finish packing my stuff. Bye." Rayne said. After the rest of her friends responded Rayne hung up the phone and let out a sigh before finishing her lists.

"Are you ready to meet them?" Isabella asked, bouncing over as soon as Rayne walked in. "Can I put this off until, oh, say, next millennium?" Rayne asked as she felt her stomach leap and heart skip a few beats. It was her nerves, before she did anything that showcased her or something like this, she felt nervously sick. Usually the way to get rid of her nerves was to talk herself down, put on a smile and get it over with. But she couldn't do that because she hadn't memorized every inch of the tour! "No you cannot. Now c'mon, I already told the teacher what's going on so we can leave now." With that said Isabella grabbed Sarabella's arm and Rayne's arm, pulling them out of choir and into the hallway. After stumbling a few feet with her friends, Rayne stood up properly and linked arms with Isabella as they headed towards the guidance office.

"Okay, so all of you have volunteered to show these new students around, but we forgot to tell you their names and who is showing them around." The Principal began, then turned and opened the door, asking for some people to enter. Rayne stood against the wall by her friends; turned out it was them and a few of her acquaintances that had volunteered. She was off in her own world until the fifteen new students had all filed in. Her gaze zeroed in on a guy with blond hair, blue eyes and a smile. It narrowed until she was centimeters from a full glare. "Ray-chan, what are you doing?" Kanna asked, nudging Rayne and tearing her eyes away from one of the guys. "I have a feeling the blond guy is shorter than me." Rayne whispered. "Okay, have fun thinking that." Kaboshi said, standing on the other side of Kanna. "Oaky, when I say your name, raise your hand. Isabella Sherette, Kanna Kamio, Kaboshi Jerzy, Candee Cain, Sarabella XY, Rayne Ford, Amy Lee, Tsukii Ryujin, Kiki Johnstone, Mina Carls, John Earl, Evan Kazename, Michael Garden-" The principal's introduction was interrupted by Mike and his twin, Matt, "It's Gardine!"

"Okay, Michael Gardine, Matthew Gardine, and Hiro St. James. They will be your tour guides. Now, when I say you names, go to whoever raises their hand again. Tenten and John Earl, Naruto Uzumaki and Tsukii Ryujin, Kiba Inuzuka and Isabella Sherette, Sasuke Uchiha and Kanna Kamio, Lee Rock and Kaboshi Jerzy. Shino Aburame and Candee Cain, Neji Hyuuga and Amy Lee, Hinata Hyuuga and Hiro St. James, Temari Subakuno and Evan Kazename, Gaara Subakuno and Sarabella XY, Sakura Haruno and Michael Gardine, Ino Yamanaka and Matthew Gardine, Shikamaru Nara and Mina Carls, Chouji Akimichi and Kiki Johnstone. Did I forget anyone?" He asked as Rayne stood there with no one to give a tour to.

"I don't have a tour guide." A voice spoke up across from her. A part of her was glad she had someone to give a tour to, another part of her was happy because it was a guy, another, bigger, part was freaking out because she had to give an unrehearsed tour to a guy in a _skirt_! "Oh, sorry about that. Kankuro Subakuno, your tour guide is Rayne Ford." That was when she saw him. He was good two inches taller than her with tanned skin, brown hair and dark eyes. His outfit was one of her favorite colors, black. He wore a dark shirt, jeans and converse. Rayne fingered her bangs, the only section of her hair not sleeked back in a ponytail, nervously as he walked towards her. "You must be Rayne, I'm Kankuro." He said, offering a smile as he held out his hand. "That's me." She assured him, meeting his hand and surprised by how calloused it was. "Nice skirt." He said as they shook hands, breaking the enchantment he had on her. "Oh yes, before I forget and you all head of to your classes; I forgot to let all the tour guides know that the new students are from Japan and _that_ is why I asked for volunteer tour guides. Have fun!" With that they were dismissed and Rayne was, figuratively, alone with Kankuro. "So according to this, I have choir first." He said happily, pulling his schedule out of a pocket. "Goodie, let's get this over with."

"Class, we have three new students to add to the guys sections. Why don't you introduce yourselves and pick a section." Their choir teacher said happily. "Kiba Inuzuka." Isabella's 'charge' said with a light smile. He was roughly the same height as Rayne with brown messy hair and black eyes. His outfit was similar to Kankuro's; it consisted of jeans, tennis shoes and a dark grey hoodie. "Kankuro Subakuno." The devil himself couldn't have said it kinder, but at the same time Ray couldn't help feel that he didn't mean the comment about her skirt the way it sounded. "Gaara Subakuno." The voice was ominous as Sarabella's 'charge' introduced himself. He was Kankuro's relative by name, but they looked completely different. Gaara was slightly shorter than herself, age probably having a direct factor, with a fire on his head, but his eyes were like water, rimmed with black shores. He seemed cute to her...like a human panda; that was in shape and scared her. She knew she wouldn't consider dating him. "Well, just take a seat in either section, bass on the right, tenor on the left." the teacher directed. The guys took their seats, Kankuro and Kiba in the bass section and leaving Gaara alone in tenor-land. Isabella. Sarabella and Rayne merely watched them from first-soprano-land.

"Ready for your tour?" Rayne asked her charge as they were at her locker, only two down from his own. "You bet, so when does it start?" HE asked, looking down at her. "First, we're going to stop by Economics to talk to Mr. Thorne, then we are going to lunch."

"Is that the entire tour?"

"Of course not, after lunch you get the tour. Although, for the rest of the semester, I have Economics fifth hour and lunch sixth. This is the only day we're going out of schedule." With that said she picked up her folders for fifth and seventh hour, her notebook for her writings and her assignment notebook before leading him to fifth hour.

"Hey Tsukii." Rayne said, leaning against a locker as her friend grabbed her own books. Kankuro was on the other side of Tsukii's locker, talking to her 'charge' who was slightly hidden by the door. "Hey Rayne, man, I'm gonna murder Chad."

"He put his book on your iPod again?"

"On my lunch this time."

"I'll help you murder him." She offered lightly. "Nah, I'll find a way." Tsukii said, straightening up and closing her locker to reveal her 'charge'. the one who looked like Blaze.

"Hey, you're the girl who had been glaring at me earlier!" He said, pointing rudely at her. Up close she realized something, he, in fact, looked very little like Blaze. "Why were you glaring at me?"

"I thought you were someone else and had trouble spotting the difference; my contact was blurred." Rayne lied simply. It couldn't be proven and was half truth. "Oh, so you were squinting!" A grin spread across his face as though he had found out he had won the lottery. "Yeah, that works."

"Rayne, what are you doing in early lunch?" One of the girls from the squad asked in mock disgust as her boyfriend stood behind her. "Hey Gummi, I'm giving a tour to a new student." She responded, gesturing slightly to where Kankuro stood behind her. "Oh, the Twig has a boyfriend." Hannah, aka Gummi, said shocked. "He's not my boyfriend; he's one of the new students. By the way, what happened to no PDA in uniform?" Hannah's boyfriend had his arms wrapped around her waist. "Whatever, it's the last Friday game." Kankuro nudged Rayne in the back. "What's with the 'twig' comment?"

"Oh, I fly on the squad and she's the base."

"That wraps up our tour. If you have any questions...eh, find a map." Kaboshi finished as late lunch got ready to end. "That was a wonderful tour! Very informative!" Lee, in all his green sweater and bowl cut glory, cheered on. "Would've been better if you had walked slower." Kankuro muttered in Rayne's ear. "You try wearing a skirt in a poorly heated school, then walking around in an even more poorly heated basement. See how that makes you feel." _Ding_. The school bell went off and students flooded into the hallway around them. "Wanna know something? I'll bet that in two months we'll be best friends." Kankuro said lightly as they walked to seventh hour.

"Okay, if you had to choose between making Sakura wear black for a week or making Ino cut her hair, which would you do?" Rayne asked she and Kankuro sat on her couch and waited for the snacks to finish heating up. "That is tough. I've seen Ino cut her hair before and I know I've seen Sakura in black at a funeral. I'd make Ino give herself a bowl cut. Now, if you had to be stuck in a room with Lee or sister for a day, who would you choose?"

"Lee, hands down. He makes me laugh and if I was stuck in a room with Shadow for a day, someone would die."

"No, don't die. Then who am I going to mess with?"

"Kiba-kun, just like you did before you met me."

_**Beep**__. The national weather service has issued a blizzard warning for Southeast Wisconsin.__** Beep.**_ The message scrolled across the bottom of the television as a robotic voice read it off repeatedly. "A blizzard? On Christmas Eve?" Kankuro complained, starting to get up. He moved to the sliding glass door where the snowflakes created a flurry of movement across the deep purple of the night. "I have ot get home." Kankuro began to open the door when Rayne stopped him. "If you try to drive in that weather you could die. Wait until the movie's over, we'll see how the storm is. If it hasn't died down by then call your sister and let her know you're going to spend the night due to weather."

"Aw, you really do care." Kankuro teased, pulling on a few strands of her hair. "Yeah yeah. I'm going to start moving firewood. You can join me or stay inside." Rayne decided as she pulled on her jacket. "And make you carry it all by yourself? Where do you move it to and from?"

"The side of the shed to the garage so it'll be drier when we put it on the fire. Chances are my brother's going to make one in a little bit." Rayne turned on the patio light to see the snow dollops falling quickly over a blanket already thick.

"Is there a faster route?" Kankuro asked as they moved their third load, him carrying seven logs while she carried five. "Not unless you can squeeze through a kitchen window above the sink with firewood in your arms. Then you still have to move it to the garage."

"Ah, the snow is really refreshing after a while." Rayne shook her head at the oddball who had stolen her heart. This night he was in jeans, boots, another black hoodie - this one with a purple skull on it - and over that, for the weather he was wearing a black coat, with his chocolate brown hair covered by a black hat that gave him cat ears and a purple scarf around his neck. In more ways than one he surprised her and confounded her, but that made him hers. Rayne shook her head slightly as Kankuro finished loading up her arms, she wasn't supposed to have feelings for him!

It was as they made it into their house after a seventh load that the weather became even more unbearable. The ferocity had increased so they were faced with a wall of white, their ears assaulted by howling winds, that Blaze stirred himself to make the fire. "I don't think you can make another trip. I'll make you some hot chocolate to warm up, do you want some?" Shadow asked as she lifted herself away from the computer. "Second best thing you could do. First being to have helped move wood." Rayne said lightly as she pulled down mugs and some better containers for their snacks. "I'd better call-How does she do that?" Kankuro asked confused as his phone began ringing in his hand. "Hey Temari...No, I'm not on the road...I was threatened by a cheerleader...Whatever, it just got worse. I'll try to make it home when I can. Until-" Kankuro cut off and stared at his, "It's dead. I charged it last night and now it's dead."

"It's the storm. It messes with reception. At least she won't worry about you driving into a tree."

"Yeah, but she'll wonder who I'm with."

"She knows you were coming here, right?"

"Good point."

"Thank you, now would you like to _watch_ the movie?" Rayne asked, putting the bowl of popcorn in his hands. "Such a demanding person. Aren't you happy enough that I'm here?"

"_Nightmare Before Christmas_."

"I like the animation technique!" Kankuro shouted as he and Rayne raced for the best seats. "BMW, turn on the-" Rayne cut off as they were engulfed in darkness, the only light coming from the fire. "What were you saying Ray?" Blaze asked. "Shut it BMW." Rayne snapped; setting the sodas she had on the cleared table to her left. "So, what do we do now?" Kankuro asked. "Not get cold."

"And how do you plan to do that?"

"Shadow, you take a flashlight and get blankets out of my trunk. BMW, keep the fire going. If and when Mom and Dad asked, I'm going downstairs with Kankuro to get more blankets."

"Aw, no _Nightmare Before Christmas_ Ray-chan?" Kankuro asked as Ray grabbed a flashlight and pulled him off the couch. "Not 'til the power comes back on, silly Kuro-kun."

Rayne's internal clock went off, jolting her into consciousness. She tried to think of why she was awake already, then it hit her; it's Christmas! Her eyes snapped open and then she realized she wasn't in her bed. She was on the couch, under a blanket, laying on one of best guy friends! She then remembered the night before; the blizzard had knocked out the power and Kankuro had to spend the night. Around ten the power had come back on, but they stayed in the den watching _Nightmare Before Christmas_. They must've fallen asleep afterwards. After Rayne stopped mentally panicking she realized something; Kankuro was holding her against him. "Kuro-kun, time to get up." She said softly so her parents wouldn't hear what she said. "Five more minutes Temari." Kankuro said, tightening his hold on her. "Kankuro, don't you want a-"

"Christmas!" Kankuro's eyes opened quickly although his grip didn't loosen. "Kuro-kun; merry Christmas." Rayne said, giving him a quick hug as he spotted her there. "Gomenasai, did I wake you?" He asked, letting her go and looking away. Ray was puzzled until she realized her shirt collar had fallen so her bra was showing. "No, you didn't wake me. I had been up about a minute, not even." She said as she righted her clothes. "What time is it?" He asked, keeping his voice low. "Uh, six-thirty am. We have a good half hour before anyone else wakes up besides BMW."

"So, what are we doing up so early?"

"I usually get up and look through the presents. Then I make breakfast."

"Oh, what's for breakfast?"

"I was thinking either pancakes or cinnamon rolls."

"Oh, pancakes! Let's have pancakes!" Kankuro said excitedly as they heard footsteps racing downstairs. "BMW!" Rayne whispered, pulling far away from Kankuro as they heard rummaging in the living room. "I wonder where Ray is." They heard Blaze comment as footsteps moved towards them. "Hey BMW, merry Christmas!" Rayne said, forcing a smile onto her face as her brother walked into the room. "Oh, there you are. What are we going to have for breakfast?"

"Pancakes!" Kankuro told him happily, scaring him slightly. "I thought you were gone."

"Nope, the storm was still going when the movie ended so I stayed down here."

"Why are you so happy about that?" Blaze asked, eyeing him suspiciously. "It's Christmas and there is snow on the ground. Where I'm from there usually _isn't_ snow, ever. It's a desert. Not to mention I'm stuck here with a snow angel." Rayne rolled her eyes, "Because I _so_ caused the storm."

"I think you did, because you would like nothing more than to find me in your house every morning."

"Yeah, uh huh, every morning. Even those days I walk around half dead in head-to-toe flannel as I try to breathe through a cold. Yep, even those days."

"Oh come on, I'll bet you look very kawaii with a red nose, Ray-chan."

"I'm not a reindeer. So if you want to actually eat I would suggest getting out from under the blanket, off the couch and stop saying I'm a reindeer."

"I never said you were a reindeer Ray-chan." Kankuro grumbled, but got off the couch, "I'd better call Temari before she flips." He pulled out his phone as Rayne and Blaze made their way to the kitchen. "Go find out who wants which special ingredient." Rayne instructed her brother as she pulled out utensils. "What are the choices?"

"Cinnamon, chocolate chips, blueberry and plain."

"Okay." Blaze said as he nodded and picked up a pencil and paper.

Rayne was relaxed in the kitchen as she set up her work space and made sure she had enough mix. As her brother still hadn't returned downstairs, she pulled out plates, silverware, napkins, placemats, glasses and then proceeded to set the table. "You seem way to happy to be up this early making everyone breakfast." Kankuro commented as he walked into the kitchen. "But I like making pancakes. Besides, I also get to make toast, bacon, grits and possibly eggs. Once I get farther along I'll ask what everyone wants." She said, giving him an easy smile as he walked up behind her. Her breath caught in her throat as she felt herself pulled back against his chest. Suddenly she was turned around in his arms, staring up in wonder at his behavior. "Merry Christmas Rayne-chan." He said before crashing his mouth down on hers. It took her a second to realize what was happening and as he started to release her, she pulled him closer to continue kissing him.


End file.
